http://forums.thinkarete.com/forums/the-big-ideas/topics/five-wishes en-us 60 <p align="center">&ldquo;<em>This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle' to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations.&rdquo;<br /></em>~ George Bernard Shaw, 20th century playwright and literary personality</p><p align="justify">Gay Hendricks&rsquo; brilliant book, &ldquo;Five Wishes,&rdquo; is a must read. Absolutely life changing.</p><p align="justify">The Big Idea: You&rsquo;re on your deathbed. Someone comes to you, looks you in your eyes and asks you: <em>&ldquo;Was your life a complete and total success?&rdquo;</em> </p><p align="justify">If the answer isn&rsquo;t an unequivocal <em>&ldquo;Yes!,&rdquo;</em> then what do you <em>wish </em>you had done while you were still alive? (And, for the record, if the answer <em>is </em>an unequivocal &ldquo;Yes!,&rdquo; at the risk of being rude, you may want to raise your standards. ;)</p><p align="justify">Why wait until our deathbeds to realize that we left so much on the table?</p><p align="justify">Burn, baby, burn.</p> Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:43:22 -0000 forums.thinkarete.com:503:487:487 brian http://forums.thinkarete.com/forums/503/topics/487